Dame Caroline Dinenage was elected as the Conservative MP for Gosport in 2010, being re-elected in 2019 with a majority of 23,378.
The constituency of Gosport is a compact constituency located on the Hampshire coast on the outskirts of Portsmouth. It contains the towns of Gosport and Stubbington. With the Conservatives polling two thirds of the vote in Gosport in 2019, this has long been a very safe seat for the Party.
Caroline Dinenage was initially chosen for the Gosport Parliamentary seat as the result of one of the first all postal ballot ‘Open Primary’ contests in the UK, winning the nomination with approximately 40% of the votes cast.
Dinenage served as the Minister of State in the government at the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport between 2020 and 2021. Previously she was Minister of State at the Department of Health, and Under Secretary at the Department for Education and Department of Work and Pensions.
Dinenage was appointed a Dame in the 2022 Honours List.
Born in 1971, Dinenage was educated at Swansea University, and ran a small business supplying corporate promotion products before being elected to Parliament. She was a local councillor on Winchester District Council between 1998-2003.
Dinenage supported Matt Hancock and then Jeremy Hunt in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election. She voted for Remain in the 2016 EU referendum.
Dinenage has two sons, and is now married to the former Conservative MP, Mark Lancaster, who himself sits in the House of Lords. She started the first ever parliamentary netball team.
Her father is the former Meridian Television presenter, and long standing broadcaster, Fred Dinenage. Like him, Caroline Dinenage is a strong supporter of Portsmouth FC.
Email: caroline.dinenage.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: www.caroline4gosport.co.uk
Twitter: @cj_dinenage
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Caroline4Gosport?fref=ts
